Backstage
by TrainingPea
Summary: Theatre AU. Rey is a lighting tech on a touring production of A Midsummer Nights Dream, Kylo is an overly serious actor who can never find his light.
1. The Technical Rehearsal

"Taking it from the top please!" Amilyn's call was heard loud and clear throughout the theatre. There was a small click and then her voice again, softer this time, straight into the cans headset Rey was wearing, "Standby LX zero point five through two, sound cue zero point five through two."

Rey turned on her own cans and hovered her finger over the go button on her lighting desk.

"LX standing by."

"Sound standing by," came a third voice through the headset.

"LX zero point five, sound zero point five, go."

Rey pushed the button, and the theatre came to life. The slow thumping techno pre show music filled the room as the lights changed. The house lights, which would in a normal performance allow the audience to find their seats, for now just illuminated the production team's temporary desk. Rey glanced along the row of audience seating that they had claimed, a half dozen or so rows down, Amilyn was having a low discussion with the director that Rey could only hear half of through her headset.

By definition technical rehearsals are boring. They stop and start, they leave everyone hanging about for what seems like years, they require one tiny moment be done over and over until everyone involved had fallen asleep. On top of that, they demanded that attention be maintained through the tedium, because it was all but guaranteed that the moment it drifted would be the moment you were needed

"So this is what we've got for the preset."

Rey looked at the neatly laid out desk Amilyn had, and back to her own mess of notes, snacks and coffee cups. The organisational skilled of stage management always baffled her. Theatres were chaotic places, anyone who can find order in one is to be both respected and feared.

"Yeah I can ask. Sound?"

The third voice piped up.

"Sound here."

"Have you got anything more uptempo for pre show?"

Rey's eyes drifted past Amilyn and the director to a third desk another half dozen seats down.

"Yeah, give me just a second."

Sound's table was practically minimalist compared to here, carrying nothing but notebook, a coffee cup and a laptop, which Fin was currently focused on. The sound cut out and was quickly replaced with another song, faster, more nightclub like.

"How does that sound?" Fin asked.

"Is that better?" Amilyn relayed to the director. There was a pause while he replied, "Yeah, that's much better. More like that in the playlist."

"Roger that," Rey could see Fin taking a note.

"LX, you there?"

"I'm here."

"Poe's wondering if we can make the bower more sultry?"

"More sultry?" Rey raised an eyebrow to no one in particular. Director speak always required some translation.

"Yeah, can you do that?" Amilyn's voice kept it's matter of fact tone, but Rey was well aware that this was purely because open mockery of the director was frowned upon. Luckily for her, the director wasn't off cans, so she had free rein.

"Yeah sure, I've got my sultry fader right here. Whilst I'm at it, should I bring the prudishness down too?"

"If you could that would be great."

Underneath Amilyn's reply she could hear Fin chuckle.

"Ok right, give me a moment to sort this, I think I know what I'm doing."

The section of the stage that Amilyn was referring to had a few lights pointed at it. Right now she was using one that was plain white, and one that had a deep pink coloured gel in it. Rey selected the open whites on her desk and took them out, then selected the pink and brought it up a little. The bower was darker now, but had more colour. She hoped that was what Poe had meant by sultry.

"How does that look?" Rey asked.

"Much better thank you."

She saved the new version of the cue.

"Ok," said Amilyn, "Lets trot on. LX one, sound cue one, go."

The music faded into another, similar song, though now it seemed muffled as if heard through a wall, and the house lights came down.

"LX two, Sound two, go."

The sound dipped in volume and all lights on stage went out except for those pointed at a dingy couch off to the left, which brighted to reveal the two figures sitting on it, this production's Theseus and Hippolyta, in the mists of a heavy petting session. This director wasn't one for coyness it seemed. This seemed to go on for just a bit too long before Theseus broke away and began untangling himself.

"Now, fair Hippolyta," he began, standing from the sofa and walking away from it, "Our nuptial hour draws on apace"

Walking, as it would happen, straight out of his light.

"Ok, can we hold please?" Asked Rey.

"Hold please!" Amilyn was kind enough to cover her microphone before shouting, Theseus stopped mid speech, and stood with his arms crossed, "What's up, Rey?"

"Does Theseus need to go that far stage left? I've only focused until the Mechanical's rug starts."

"Does he need to walk that far?" Amilyn repeated to Poe. With no delay, Poe called out to the stage.

"Kylo, keep closer to the couch, you're in the dark."

"I'm in the light," he called back.

"Just step to your right."

Kylo reluctantly took a sidestep, and blinked as the light hit his eyes in full.

"Is this better?" he asked.

"Much better," said Rey into the cans.

"That's much better, thank you!" Called out Amilyn, "Can we take that from 'Now fair Hippolyta', in you own time please, thank you."

They stopped and started like this for another hour, throughout which Kylo seemed to run from his mark like he owed it money. Rey's suggestion of a shock collar was rejected, as effective as it may be. Apparently Equity get a bit iffy about technical teams electrocuting their actors, however much it might improve the show. By the time a break was called, a fight with the actor's union was something Rey was just about ready to risk.

"Ok everyone, back in fifteen!" Amilyn called to the theatre, then into her microphone, "DSM off cans."

"LX off cans," Rey echoed, removing the headset and placing it on her desk.

She slipped on her jacket as she headed for the door to the foyer and dug through her pockets as she crossed to the main door for a battered box of cigarettes. She stood a little way away from the door to light it, as a courtesy to any people who just needed to enter or exit. The morning, what little was left of it, was cold and some frost still clung to the grass in the shade. Rey shivered, and thought longingly of the hat and scarf she had left inside. She would have to remember them for the next break. Still, the fresh air was nice. As was the slight breeze, cold as it may be, after the still atmosphere inside. Taking a draw, she watched the few cars on the road drive past.

"You didn't strike me as a smoker," a new voice broke the calm ambient noise of the outside world. Rey noted with some annoyance it was Kylo.

She took her time in answering, trying to push down the irritation from the past hour. Whilst was aware that no actor would deliberately leave the light, lord knows that their biggest aim was to be seen as much as possible, she did sometimes daydream about how quick a tech would go by with a cast that could find their mark. Or at least a cast that didn't huff when they were told they missed it. She took a long, unhurried draw, her eyes flicking up and down his clashing get up. He was still wearing his costume, a leather waistcoat and trousers look, no shirt. On stage he wouldn't be wearing shoes either, but he had pulled on a pair of old trainers that she supposed might once have been white. A navy pea coat had been thrown on over his top half but not buttoned. Out of one of its cavernous pockets Kylo was pulling his own pack of smokes.

"Comes with the territory," she answered eventually, "All techs smoke."

"Sound guy doesn't," Kylo said, holding the cigarette between his teeth to light it.

"Yeah, he quit, didn't he? On a health kick, left me out here on my own," Rey smiled, mostly to herself, "I'm a regular old Nicorette widow."

"My condolences."

"I thought actors weren't meant to smoke either, to protect you voice."

"I do a lot of things I'm not meant to."

A bubble of laughter forced its way out of Rey's mouth. She glanced at Kylo who, to her surprise, was only looking at her with confusion.

"Oh my God, you were being serious," she tried to stop the laughing, but only partly succeed, "I don't think I've heard someone try to be that edgy since I was a teenager."

"I was only saying-"

"I know, I'm sorry, I shouldn't laugh. It just caught me off guard," Kylo didn't reply, Rey thought for a moment, feeling a little bad for laughing in his face, "Tell you what, I have some chocolate on my table, if you promise you won't tell the whole cast it's there, you can help yourself when you're not needed on stage."

He seemed to be considering it.

"What kind of chocolate?"

"White, milk and dark, plus some random sweets."

"You came prepared."

"I like to snack. We even?"

"I suppose so."

"Good," Rey checked the time on her phone, "You'll probably be wanting to head back in to get ready."

Kylo checked his own watched and stubbed out his cigarette before heading inside. After a moment, Rey called after him.

"Miss your light again though and I will kill you!"

Kylo just turned and shot her a quick thumbs up before heading inside.

They struggled through the first scene, and on in to the second at a respectable snails pace, despite the still constant reminders to Kylo to stay in his light and to their Hippolyta (who's name Rey had not yet bothered to learn) to keep her voice up. Time ticked by irregularly, seeming to move only during the brief bursts of activity.

During one of the many lulls, Rey saw out of the corner of her eye one of the auditorium doors open, and Kylo slip through. He had swapped out his costume waistcoat for a black shirt, and looked towards the stage where the mechanicals were standing idle whilst Amilyn and Poe hashed out the details of a scene transition. After a moment or two of watching absolutely nothing happen he seemed to grow bored and started to make his way to where Rey was sat. He slipped into a seat one away from her's and made himself comfortable, seemingly trying to pretend like he had not even noticed that the row was occupied, like he had chosen that seat at random out of the entire theatre.

They sat in silence for a minute or so before Rey, without looking at him, wordlessly offered her bag of chocolate buttons. Kylo took a small handful and started eating.

"Amilyn's not gonna like that you're out of costume," said Rey.

"I'm not needed now until act four. I think I have time to get back into it," Kylo replied with a sarcastic tone Rey suspected was meant to sound playful.

"You got a date there, Rey?" came a voice over the headset.

"Why you jealous?" she replied.

"Not at all, dark and broody isn't my type."

"I think we all know what your type is," Rey caught Kylo's confused look and tapped on her headset to explain.

"Well please don't let me interrupt your romancing."

"I am not-"

"Quiet on cans please."

Rey and Fin both turned off their microphones, Rey looked along the row to see Fin giving her a grin and a thumbs up.

"Sorry about that," said Rey to Kylo, gesturing to where Fin was sat with her head, "He gets a bit nosey sometimes."

"Jealous boyfriend?" Again Rey felt like the tone was intended to be light and joking, but it just came across as awkward. Kylo seemed to realise this as well, but at least had the good grace not to dig the hole any deeper.

"You think Fin and I-? Oh god no, I'm definitely not his type," replied Rey, laughing mostly to herself.

"Sorry, I thought that maybe-"

"Don't worry about it, it's fine. He'll get a kick out of that. I'm gonna miss him for this show."

"Why? Is he not going to be there?"

"Nah, we're doing a skeleton crew tour. Amilyn will be opping from her prompt desk. I'm gonna be on my own in the tech booth most shows."

Kylo started to say something, but Rey was distracted by a sudden and unexpected dimming of one of her side lights. She covered the microphone of her headset, regardless of the fact she had turned it off, and shouted.

"Hold on stage!" He voice was sharp and urgent, all talking in the room stopped dead, "Oberon! Whatever you just threw off stage I need you to get it."

The actor started to say something back, but Rey cut over him.

"Now."

He went off stage and a second later the light was back and he re-entered holding a heavy jacket.

"Oberon" continued Rey, "Where did you find that?"

"Stage right wing," the actor was trying hard to seem aloof and irritated at being told off, but the blush working it's way up his pale face betrayed his embarrassment at being called out.

"Where in the wing? Was it, by any chance, on top of something?"

There was no reply and the actor just crossed his arms, so Rey continued.

"I have rigged lights on the floor in both wings, they will get hot. If you throw things, particularly cloth things, in to them then we will have a fire on our hands. Do you think that's something we want?"

Again, there was no answer.

"So then, what you will have to do is throw the jacket somewhere else, or you can liaise with stage management to see if they might be able to spare somebody to catch it, if the throw is something that absolutely, definitely needs to happen. But I think that decision will come down to the director. Poe, your thoughts please?"

Poe considered for a moment.

"Hux, the jacket can be thrown behind the couch instead."

Now bright red, Hux donned the coat again.

"Right," called out Amilyn, "Can we take it from 'for her sake do I rear up her boy', in your own time please, thank you."

By definition technical rehearsals are boring but it is all but guaranteed that the moment it drifted would be the moment you were needed.


	2. At The Bar

"So, we have a gin and tonic for Amilyn," said Poe, passing out each glass on the small black tray he was holding to a waiting member of the production team, "Dark Fruits for Rey, vodka lemonade for Rose, Jack and coke for Finn, and a red wine for when Leia graces us with her presence."

The last glass was placed in front of an empty chair.

"Leia's joining us tonight?" asked Finn with pleasant surprise, not waiting a moment longer to take a well earned sip on his drink.

"If she can get enough of her admin done then that's her plan. I think I might have her snowed under with risk assessments, I owe her all the wine the bar carries for that." Poe smiled with playful embarrassment. "I do want to congratulate you all on some stellar work today. The cast like to think they're the centre of the show, but they wouldn't know their arses from their elbows without you lot. To the backstage!"

Poe raised his glass in a toast and the rest followed suit.

"Are you sticking around for the first one?" said Finn.

"Sadly not, I feel there are some egos that need nursing over at the actor's table, but I'll see you later," Poe turned to Rey, "You make sure you get this one home by midnight, we've got an early morning tomorrow."

"I'm making no promises."

"I expected nothing less."

With a quick kiss goodbye to Finn, Poe took his own drink and picked his way through the busy bar to the table where all the actors were sat with ring of empty tables around them. The volume and gesticulating of actors often discouraged members of the public from sitting too close. Rey momentarily clocked Kylo sat with the group. He wasn't talking, but was watching the rest of the cast with the intense concentration of someone ill at ease. A bartender carrying a large tray of empties obscured her view and she was pulled back in to the conversation of her own table.

"How are you finding your first proper show, Rose?" asked Amilyn, "Big step up from college, I'd bet."

"Definitely. When I saw the brief I'd been given, I just about quit on the spot."

"That's everyone's first reaction working with Poe." Finn interjected with a smirk, "The first time I did sound for him I threatened to move out."

"I had the sofa ready and everything." added Rey.

"I don't think I'd ever seen someone manage to be so vague, and so particular at the same time," said Rose, "But now it's all built, I'm honestly so happy how it turned out. Plus it's nice to be building from my own designs for once."

"It's a good feeling isn't it," said Finn, "You should be doubly proud you were given the design because of trust. Rey was given her first design after Ivano got sick of her not sticking to his lighting plan."

"You can't tell me I wasn't making improvements."

"I wasn't saying I could, just saying you climbing the ladder involved stepping on a lot of toes."

"Please. They love me."

"I once heard a flyman consider dropping a lighting bar on you."

"Flyman express their love in unusual ways."

"If that's what you want to believe... " Finn turned his attention back to Rose, "Seriously though, your set looks great, you should be proud of it."

"I just hope it works in the other venues too," Rose replied.

"Provided your diagrams are accurate," said Amilyn, "I'm sure we'll have no bother. Especially with the wonderfully thorough instructions you wrote for the in house crew."

Rose smiled and looked away, proud but shy. Rey looked over at the actor's table again. Kylo still seemed to be silent, seperate from the loud conversation going on around him. He looked towards her and they locked eyes for just a moment, until Rey realised that she had made it look like she had been staring and turned hastily back to her own group. She hoped that none of them had noticed.

"Making moon eyes, are we?" Finn, ever the eagle eyed, said with a playful smirk. Her hope had been in vain.

"At who?" said Rose, craning to look in the direction Rey had been looking.

"At no one." Rey took one more quick look to the actors table. Mercifully all, including Kylo, were consumed in whatever conversation was currently going on and none had seemed to notice that all the heads at the production table were currently pointed at them.

"Rey was pining over the dark and broody Kylo Ren."

"I was not, and the word you are looking for is 'brooding'. Broody means baby fever."

"You're right, of course. You definitely haven't been stealing glances at his flowing hair and strong nose since we sat down."

"You like Kylo?" Rose sounded skeptical. Amilyn's mouth tensed into a straight line.

"Jesus, how old are all of you? Did I go back to high school and not realise?" Rey could hear the defensiveness in her voice, and she knew from the amused twinkle in Finn's eyes that he could hear it too, "I was just noticing that he seemed uncomfortable. That's all."

"Well, that's not really surprising is it?" said Rose.

"It's not?" replied Rey, glancing at Finn. She saw her own curious expression mirrored in his, neither of them had expected Rose to be a source of unknown gossip.

"Considering what happened, I'm surprised he's even at the pub with them to begin with."

Rey wasn't sure if Rose was genuinely assuming that they would all know what she was referring to, or if their newest colleague was an expert at gossip storytelling.

"That depends on what happened, doesn't it?"

"You know, a few years ago at-"

"Organa incoming," interrupted Amilyn, standing to greet her friend. Stopped talking, and looked nervously down at her drink, "Leia, I'm so glad you could make it."

"It was touch and go, but I'm here. I think I've earned it," Leia pointed at the empty seat and full wine glass, "For me? Poe mentioned he had the first round."

"Yes, of course. I think we might be getting some food soon as well." said Amilyn as the two sat down, "How is everything? How's Han doing? God only knows when we last saw him."

"Oh, he's away touring some forum theatre in community halls up north. Something to do with big businesses invading local spaces. It's being received quite well from what I hear. " said Leia, taking up her glass and sitting down, "As for me, much the same, trying to chip away at my Hydra of paperwork - but that's a dull topic. Tell me about your technical. Is everything ready for the dress?"

The conversation turned to recounting the days events, and Rey excused herself to the bathroom.

Exiting the cubical, she was surprised to see Amilyn hovering uncertainly by the sinks.

"I wanted to talk to you for a moment," she began.

"Oh? Excuse me," Rey edged around her, and began washing her hands.

"I just didn't want to say in front of everyone one."

"What about?"

"You know I don't like to encourage gossiping-"

"That sounds like there's a 'but' coming," Rey shook water off her hands.

"But I do feel like I should let you know-"

"Sorry, excuse me again."

Amilyn moved from her spot in front of the paper towels and continued, as Rey grabbed a couple.

"I feel I let you know that this is Ben's first show after-"

"Who's Ben?"

"Kylo is a stage name. I thought you might have guessed that."

"Coming from an Amilyn," said Rey with a smile.

"Still, his actual name is Ben Solo."

"Wait, like-"

"Han, yes. He's Han and Leia's son."

"Didn't think she's old enough for him to be that age."

"Not the point. How long have you worked at the New Republic?"

"Three years, maybe?"

"Ben used to do a lot of theatre here, but there was an… incident. There was a bit of violence. Leia wouldn't let him act in anything for, well, it must be going on five or six years now. This is his first role since."

"Ok, either give me enough detail for this to be good gossip, or tell me why you're telling me this."

"I just want to let you know to be careful with him. I don't know how much was just Finn trying to tease you, but as your co-worker and, frankly after three years I would hope, your friend, I just want you to be careful."

"Jesus Amilyn, I literally just had a cigarette with the guy, I didn't marry him."

"Still, I thought I should let you know just in case."

"Are you going to tell me what the incident was, or are you just going to leave me hanging? Because that is not fair."

"Leia wants to leave the whole thing in the past. I'm just meant to keep an eye on him, just in case," Amilyn went to leave, "Just be careful, ok?"

"I'll be careful."

The door swung shut behind Amilyn. With a sign, Rey looked herself in the mirror and dumped the used paper towels in the bin. As she picked her way back to the table she stole a glance over to where the actors were sat. Kylo's seat was now empty.


End file.
